XLGAMES' open-world action MMORPG 'ArcheAge Chronicles' is participating in Steam Next Fest to showcase a free demo. Notably, this build includes PvP content for the first time among all public builds revealed so far.
XLGAMES announced the demo schedule and participation details through its official channels. The demo will run for one week, from 2:00 AM KST on October 20 to 2:00 AM KST on October 27. Any Steam user can participate without registration, simply by clicking the 'Download Demo' button on the Steam Store page.
Steam Next Fest is a digital event showcasing a wide variety of unreleased game demos on Steam. The October event runs from October 19 to October 26 local time.
In the demo, players can experience select content centered around Diamond Shores, an early-game region. Diamond Shores is a region on the continent of Auroria from the original 'ArcheAge'. In addition, PvP content is included for the first time in a public build, allowing players to experience combat firsthand. However, certain life skills such as housing and trade are excluded from this demo. As hunting, gathering, housing, farming, crafting, and trade are listed as features on the Steam Store page, these elements are expected to be available in future tests or the Early Access version.
XLGAMES previously conducted a North American network test on September 12. That test targeted Steam users in the United States and Canada and only featured early-region content as an early development build to check server performance and network stability. XLGAMES later shared via a Steam Developer Letter in September that the test concluded smoothly. The studio also announced plans to launch Early Access earlier than players expected, targeting within the year, though a specific date was not disclosed.
ArcheAge Chronicles was revealed in September 2024 during State of Play, where its official title was confirmed after previously going by the working title 'ArcheAge 2'. At the time, Kakao Games was scheduled to publish the game, but publishing duties have now shifted to XLGAMES directly.
According to the Steam Store page, the minimum system requirements for the game are an Intel Core i5-12400 or Ryzen 5 5600 processor, 16GB RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. The recommended requirements are an Intel Core i7-12700 or Ryzen 7 5700X, 32GB RAM, and a GeForce RTX 4060 Ti, with 100GB of storage space required for both specifications.
As this demo reveals PvP for the first time ahead of Early Access, it remains to be seen how player feedback from this test will influence subsequent preparations.
